And They’re Off; Area Girls HS Teams’ Seasons Underway
Can the Plymouth Pilgrims and/or Culver Academy Eagles repeat as sectional champions?
Will Culver Community be much improved?
Is there life at Glenn after honorable mention all-conference pick Jessie Yelaska graduated?
How good will North Judson-San Pierre be with senior Sophia Frasure?
Can Knox get back into the sectional title hunt?
With girls high school basketball seasons upon us, there are a slew of unanswered questions.
Below is a brief look at the 14 teams we will be covering on MAX 98.3 FM (WYMR) and WKVI FM (99.3) during the 2022-23 season (check out John Harrell’s fantastic website for schedules, conference standings, rankings and so much more at http://indianagirlsbasketball.homestead.com/).
ARGOS (0-2 overall in 2022-23)
The Dragons will be looking for their first victory of the young season when they travel to Winamac tomorrow.
Earlier this week, Scott Jennings’ club blew a double-digit lead in its upset bid against Triton and lost a heartbreaker by four points.
Guard Emma Dunlap led the way against the Trojans with a dozen points.
There might be some growing pains with this team. After all, all-everything center Lizzy Edmonds graduated from last year’s sectional championship team and now plays at Holy Cross College in South Bend. The 6-foot Edmonds led the Dragons in scoring, rebounding and blocks.
Along with Dunlap, Samantha Redinger, Bella Stults and Baleigh Binkley (a Culver transfer) will be key.
BREMEN (0-3)
The Lions are breaking in a lot of young and inexperienced players, particularly in their backcourt. That’s not good, especially when you started the season with a grueling schedule facing top-ranked Marian in Class 3A in the opener followed by a very veteran and good Tippy Valley squad.
Coach Alex Robinson starts just one senior – forward Katie Moyer, who scored a team-high 15 points Wednesday at LaVille. Moyer will need to score in double digits consistently if the Lions are to improve on their 16-10 record from a year ago.
Moyer will also need to get help from teammates like Elina Grubbs, who is a promising freshman (6 points vs. the Lancers).
CULVER ACADEMY (3-1)
All Coach Bill Murchie did in his first year at CGA was guide the Eagles’ program to a sectional championship.
So what does he do for an encore?
CGA is young (eight freshmen), but talented.
Senior guard Dionna Craig, whose brother Deontae plays football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, leads the way. She’s averaging nearly 11 points per game. Senior center Lena Spiller is the team’s top rebounder (5.7 per contest).
Although Murchie will downplay it, come February his team could very well be one of the sectional favorites again.
CULVER COMMUNITY (1-3)
Don’t be fooled by Culver’s 1-3 record. The Cavaliers are much better than they were a year ago.
Shane Lowry’s team will be led by guard Rose Peterson. Who could forget her magical performance against Triton in last year’s sectional when she torched the nets for 37 points, burying eight three-pointers, helping her team upset the Trojans and advance.
Peterson, whose averaging just under eight points per game so far this season, can’t and won’t be depended on to do it all.
Her supporting cast includes talented Brynn Berndt and Grace Sieber. Sieber is currently the team’s second-leading scorer (7.0 ppg) and Berndt is third (5.0 ppg).
Those three must be good and consistent if the Cavs want to finish over .500.
JOHN GLENN (1-2)
Coach Ted Hayden has the luxury of having two of his daughters playing for him at the same time in Walkerton. Kennedy, who is bound for Madonna University in Michigan to play college ball, is a senior and Lucy is a post freshman who will log many minutes.
Helping the Haydens is a pair of youngsters in the backcourt in sophomores Alivia Turnage and Dani Divine. Turnage had a team-high 10 points in the loss to Triton and Divine added eight in that ball game.
The problem for the Falcons is they have to replace Yelaska, a three-point specialist, and hardnosed guard Lauren Fansler, plus post Mia Hooten opted not to play her senior season.
Those are lot of holes to fill against a very challenging schedule.
KNOX (0-2)
It’s been a rough start for Neill Minix’s team so far and he’s not used to that.
You see this is a program that’s been one of the best around, winning sectional championships in 2018, ’19 and ’20.
However, Minix would be the first to point out that his team’s start isn’t totally unexpected.
Remember thanks to graduation the Redskins lost leading scorer Megan Bolen and her 12.6 points per game.
Guards Morgan Downs, a junior, and Portland Minix, a sophomore who is the coach’s daughter, are pacing the team in scoring, each averaging 13.5 points per game.
Senior guard Riley Messer is chipping in 7.0 points per outing, too.
Downs, Minix and Messer are a solid three, which should translate into Knox’s fair share of victories this season.
LAVILLE (2-1)
The Lancers seem to be on the uptick after going 11-13 a year ago.
They have a new coach in Nick Amor and are led by senior Healyn Kwiatkowski, who can really score and has a knack for getting to the foul line.
Fresh off a home victory over Bremen, the Lancers have a post presence in Lucy Sherk, who poured in a game-high 16 points, including 10 in the third quarter, against the Lions.
This is a team that really gets after it defensively and starts three seniors.
After broadcasting their game last night on MAX 98.3 FM, topping last year’s win total of 11 seems like a given.
NORTH JUDSON-SAN PIERRE (2-0)
Yes, there’s still a Frasure playing for the Bluejays.
No doubt opponents will celebrate when this season comes to an end since it will mark an unbelievable run by the Frasure girls at North Judson.
You can bet, though, that Sophia wants to have one heck of a memorable senior season so look out.
It’s a guarantee that Sophia and her teammates are a motivated bunch after enduring a five-win season a year ago. That came after the Bluejays enjoyed five straight seasons of at least 20 victories or more.
It comes as no surprise that out of the gate Frasure is leading her team in scoring (16.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg).
As Frasure goes, so goes North Judson, but sophomore Kyleigh Lehiy and junior Morgan Hensley must help, too.
OREGON-DAVIS (1-2)
How do you replace Miss Everything Maddie Hudspeth? That’s the dilemma Coach Aubrey Lady, an OD alum, faces with this year’s Lady Cats.
OD, which finished last season 8-14 and advanced to the sectional title game against Argos, is finding out replacing her is going to be awfully tough.
The Lady Cats started the season with back-to-back blowout losses to Morgan Township and Elkhart before notching their first win against Trinity Greenlawn.
Needless to say, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done in Hamlet if OD wants to make some noise in the Bi-County Tournament and/or come sectional time.
PLYMOUTH (0-2)
One of Class 4A’s defending sectional champions is the Plymouth Pilgrims, who are led by senior big Taylor Delp, who definitely has the potential to be a double-double machine night in and night out. Two games in she’s averaging 12 points per game and 9.5 rebounds.
Coach Micaela Schalliol’s team will have its work cut out if it wants to win a second straight sectional title as this year it will have to go through defending 3A state champion and loaded South Bend Washington, which moved up a class due to the IHSAA’s tournament success rule. The Panthers, who had two players sign to play Division I college basketball next season (Amiyah Reynolds at Maryland and Rashunda Jones at Purdue) are currently the No. 1 team in the state in 4A (the largest class).
If the Pilgrims are to improve on last year’s 15-10 mark, Delp will need some help from her friends namely Sophie Miller, Lena Jones and Halle Hopple.
SOUTH CENTRAL (1-1)
Coming off a phenomenal 26-1 2021-22 season which included a sectional championship, the Satellites are in reloading mode.
Three seniors return from that memorable squad of a year ago, including guard Abigail Tomblin, who is leading the team in scoring (16.2 ppg). Classmate and backcourt mate Delanie Gale is off to a good start, too (11.9 ppg), as is junior Olivia Marks (11.1 ppg), who is the team’s leading rebounder (6.8 rpg).
TRITON (3-0)
The Trojans are off to a perfect start and are ranked 13th in the state in Class 1A.
Coach Kennedy Krull’s team is led by junior center Addyson Viers and senior guard Kinsey Atkins.
Atkins can really be deadly from three-point land. Last season she notched a career high by scoring 23 points, burying seven triples.
Viers is a force inside as Manchester already found out when tallied a double-double (19 points and 15 rebounds, plus added four blocked shots).
Keep an eye on the Trojans. They are definitely a team to be reckoned with.
WEST CENTRAL (0-2)
The Trojans are looking to rebound from last year’s disappointing 6-15 mark.
In order to improve, they will rely heavily on guards Kailee Bishop and Annika Smith. Those two are currently West Central’s top two scorers at 13 and 12.5 points per game, respectively.
Smith is also a rebounding machine (18 rpg).
Coach Tyson Mellon has one of the few teams in the state of Indiana that does not have a senior on its roster.
There may be a lot of growing pains for the Trojans, but playing so much youth and inexperience should pay dividends in the future.
WINAMAC (0-2)
There’s new era underway in Winamac as Tony Stesiak has taken over the program from Kole Kroft.
The Kroft name will be heard a lot this season, however, as freshman guard Kandace can play.
She’s made an immediate impact, leading the Warriors in scoring (11.5 ppg) and is second on the team in rebounding (8.5 rpg).
Kroft poured in 17 points the other night in a tough two-point loss to Westville.
Winamac was 7-17 a year ago and will need its upperclassmen to step up and help Kroft if it expects to better last year’s win total.
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